Review: Epiphone g-400

I REALLY WANT THIS BABY. too bad im a poorfag with no dough. well heres the staple copypasted review for you guys to enjoy.

















Features: I bought this guitar from a seller advertising on Ebay about 4 months ago now, not one of the Brand New models as it was built in 2000/2001 as far as I know, presumably in Korea. Now lets get the basics out of the way- Standard 22-fret rosewood fretboard, two humbucking pickups, chrome hardware, mahogany body with a very beautiful cherry red finish. The general style and shape of the body is the most accurate match to the Gibson SG in my view, and looks a hell of a lot better than other guitars in it's price range. Epiphone humbucker pickups as standard, but were made by Gibson specifically for Epiphone, before the more recent models where the pickups are made by Epiphone theselves. Standard Epiphone tuners. 2 volume and 2 tone controls, and a 3-way selector. I have yet to start modifying this guitar, and I am considering a Seymour Duncan SH-6 Distortion pickup to add a little more oomph to the guitar, as well as some Grover tuners as I have had a bit of trouble with the g-string coming out of tune recently. // 7


Sound: I play quite a lot of modern rock and alternative music, some punk and a little metal, and find that this guitar can cope quite well with the expectations set. I use two different amplifiers, a 15W with distortion and a 60W which can only output clean tones without any major effects. I find myself using the 15W most often with this guitar, it produces a full, solid tone on heavy distortion, and can manage a reasonably satisfactory clean tone on this small amplifier. However on the larger 60W amp, the bridge pickup can create a much nicer clean tone, however not as well as it can produce distorted ones. The accessibility to the higher frets is very good, one of the best I have played so far. The higher fret notes sound just as clear and full as the lower ones, making this guitar near perfect for fast solo work, however I found that the action of the guitar when purchased was un-naturally high, possibly the previous owner's preference, but I had to lower the action by quite a long way to achieve a comfortable setup. Overall, the standard humbucking pickups are good, and produce rich, full tones that can cope well with most music styles, from heavy rock to blues. However, if you are looking for a guitar with a very fat, powerful output, it would be worth spending a little extra time and expense on upgrading the pickups to something a little more expensive. The sound created from the pickups are very good compared to some other guitars in competition with the G400. // 7


Action, Fit & Finish: When I bought this guitar from the seller, second hand, there were no major flaws considering the guitar is now 5 years old. I am unable to comment on the factory setup of the guitar for the above reason, but the action as I stated above was very high possibly the owner's preference. The action can be lowered reasonably far without creating fret-buzz, and the pickups seem to be adjusted well. It is overall a very quiet guitar when adjusting/selecting pickups, and all the hardware is still perfect. The guitar is reasonably light, and doesn't strain my shoulders too badly when standing, compared to my ancient 30 year old Encore Coaster which is unbearably heavy even after 15 minutes of playing standing up. As for the body of the guitar the wood is still of very good quality, and shows no signs of cracking or weakness. I love the finish of the G-400, the glossy, rich cherry red colour compliments the deep wood grain visible underneath, creating a multi-toned finish and one of the most beautiful reds I have ever seen, especially in sunlight. The only flaw with this guitar is the jack plug- which seems to have been repaired. The actual jack must have become very loose (I think that because the jack lead enters the guitar at 90 degrees to the body, the lead must have been pulled, putting more pressure on the wood holding the jack plug in place). The jack is now being held in place by a square piece of black plastic, screwed into the wood of the body, and holding the plug with a nut. This has created a small weakness and slight chipping of the wood, but I managed to repair it using a mixture of wood filler applied from inside the back panel of the guitar, where the jack is now screwed in place. I was going to get this professionally repaired but hasn't been a big issue with the guitar as yet. Overall very good quality finish and fit, and has good action to play when set up according to your playing preference. // 8

Reliability & Durability: The electronics and hardware of the guitar seem very durable, however the 3-way selector is quite flimsy and probably wouldn't withstand heavy handling. The G400 is very neck-heavy, so a lot of care has to be taken when playing standing up- it's best to make sure you always have a hold on the neck. I realised today that investing in good quality strap locks is a great idea as I witnessed my guitar headstock divebomb to the floor with a rather loud smash, when the strap at the neck end decided it wanted to break free. The result of this not much. The finish is still perfect on the headstock and everything is still intact, suprisingly, as my first impressions of the finish durability were quite inexpectant, there seemed to be lots of scratches over the body when I purchased it, and one small ding where the glossy varnish/lacquer has a dent like a small ripple on the fron of the body, not too noticeable. The main flaw with the finish is near the strap button on the back of the body next to the neck a semicircular set of many scratches about 2 inches in diameter is visible from the guitar strap that the previous owner used, constantly being ground against the body of the guitar. At least it isn't noticeable when playing. Overall, the guitar still looks beautiful with no major flaws, and the scratches are only visible on close inspection. // 9


Impression: I have been playing for around one year now, and find that this guitar is almost perfect for me. Playing mostly modern rock and punk music, I feel that the neck rythm pickup can manage to create heavier, distorted sounds that suit this music. I can imagine that with a larger amplifier that supports distortion, the guitar would be perfectly suited. I own two other guitars that are cheaper and made by Encore, the G400 is definately leagues ahead of the other two. If it were to be used for gigging, it would definately be my first choice, however not up to performance with the more expensive Gibson models which I would suggest for more experienced players than myself. If I were to have my money back and buy another guitar, I would probably choose the same model again, and definately the earlier models from around 200/2001 due to the Gibson made pickups. If you are a new beginner, I wouldn't suggest getting this as your very first guitar, as I find that I progress much more quickly on my £13 Encore guitar, (yes, £13 only) as I find it much more relaxed and comfortable for playing. I feel that the guitar would be suitable for people that are moving onto a higher level guitar, and people playing a few local gigs etc. but not professional players requiring an instrument that meets the high standards they would expect, and that the Gibson would be a better choice. // 8